ASUS ROG Strix X370-F Gaming Review

Introduction

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months then you’ll be aware that the latest AMD Zen architecture has revitalised one of our favourite companies and produced an array of products which are genuine challengers for Intel’s perch at the top of the mountain.

Having established that a Ryzen CPU is a serious choice for those of you who want all the benefits of umpteen cores without breaking the bank to do so, then the next thing to decide upon is a motherboard.

One of the biggest breakout ranges in recent years has to be the ASUS Strix. What started off as a curious design study based around Owls has quickly evolved into something which – whisper it – is a serious contender to the title of best product ASUS do, including high-end ROG stuff. The combination of great looks, cool features, customisable lighting and excellent performance has led many of us to cast an eye towards the Strix range and ASUS ROG department to look nervously over their shoulder.

Can the X370-F continue this great run of form?

Technical Specifications

We’ve said it before but it bears repeating, the X370 chipset is a match for anything available from Intel at a comparative price. Probably the biggest upgrade from the older AMD chipsets to the latest Zen one is the beefy DDR4 support. When the first X370s appeared we were seeing around 2400 MHz but some rapid BIOS revisions has seen speeds climb until now 3200 MHz is the norm. There is support for two M.2 drives and eight SATA ports. SLI and three-way CrossfireX makes sure that you can game at the best frame-rates, whilst umpteen USB ports take care of all your connectivity needs.

Elsewhere the Strix-F has all the hallmarks of a ASUS motherboard, with Sonic Radar, GameFirst, RAMDisk and AURA lighting sitting alongside a few places to install 3D Printed components. Let’s take a look.

CPU AM4 socket for AMD® Ryzenâ„¢/7th Generation A-series/Athlonâ„¢ Processors Supports AM4 Socket 14nm CPU * Refer to www.asus.com for CPU support list. Chipset AMD® X370 Memory AMD Ryzenâ„¢ Processors 4 x DIMM, max. 64GB, DDR4 3200(O.C)/2666/2400/2133 MHz, non-ECC, un-buffered memory* AMD 7th Gen A-series/Athlonâ„¢ Processors 4 x DIMM, max. 64GB, DDR4 2400/2133 MHz, non-ECC, un-buffered memory* Dual channel memory architecture * Please refer to Memory QVL(Qualified Vendors List) for details. Expansion Slots AMD Ryzenâ„¢ Processors  – 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (supports x16, x8/x8) AMD 7th Generation A-series/Athlonâ„¢ Processors  – 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (supports x8) AMD X370 chipset  – 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (max. at x4 mode)*  – 3 x PCIe 2.0 x1 * PCIex16_3 slot shares bandwidth with PCIex1_2 and PCIex1_3.  Graphics Integrated AMD Radeonâ„¢ R Series Graphics in the 7th Generation A-series APU Multi-VGA output support: HDMI and DisplayPort ports  – Supports HDMI 1.4b with maximum resolution of 4096 x 2160 @24Hz /2560 x 1600 @60Hz  – Supports DisplayPort 1.2 with maximum resolution of 4096 x [email protected]//  – Maximum shared memory of 2048 MB Multi-GPU Supports NVIDIA® 2-Way SLIâ„¢ Technology Supports AMD® 3-Way CrossFireXâ„¢ Technology Storage AMD Ryzenâ„¢ Processors  – 1 x M.2 Socket 3 with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110(PCIE 3.0 x4 and SATA modes) storage devices support  AMD 7th Generation A-series/Athlonâ„¢ Processors  – 1 x M.2 Socket 3 with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110(SATA mode) storage devices support  AMD X370 chipset with RAID 0, 1, 10 support  – 8 x SATA 6Gb/s ports LAN Intel® Ethernet Controller I211-AT Anti-surge LANGuard ROG GameFirst IV  Audio SupremeFX S1220A 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC  – Supports up to 32-Bit/192kHz playback*  – High quality 120 dB SNR stereo playback output and 113 dB SNR recording input  – Impedance sense for front and rear headphone outputs  – SupremeFX Shielding Technology  – Dual Headpone Amplifiers  – Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, and Front Panel Jack-retasking  – Optical S/PDIF out port at back panel Audio Feature:  – Sonic Studio III  – Sonic Radar III *Due to limitations in HDA bandwidth, 32-Bit/192kHz is not supported for 8-Channel audio. USB AMD Ryzenâ„¢/7th Generation A-series/Athlonâ„¢ Processors  – 4 x USB 3.0 ports (4 ports at back panel[blue]) AMD X370 chipset:  – 1 x USB 3.1 front panel connector  – 6 x USB 3.0 ports (2 ports at back panel[blue], 4 ports at mid-board)  – 4 x USB 2.0 ports (2 ports at back panel, 2 ports at mid-board) ASMedia® USB 3.1 controller:  – 2 x USB 3.1 ports (2 ports at back panel, Type-A and Type-C) ROG Exclusive Features ROG RAMCache II ROG GameFirst IV* ROG Overwolf ROG CPU-Z ROG CloneDrive *ROG GameFirst IV is only available for Windows® 10 64-bit Special Features Performance Optimization   5-Way Optimization  – Whole system optimization with a single click! Perfectly consolidates better CPU performance, power saving, digital power control, system cooling and app usages.     Digi+VRM     EPU     – EPU     TPU    – Auto Tuning, TurboV, GPU Boost    Fan Xpert 4    – featuring Fan Auto Tuning function and multiple thermistors selection for optimized system cooling control ASUS EZ DIY  – ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3  – ASUS EZ Flash 3 ASUS Q-Design  – Q-Shield  – Q-LED (CPU, DRAM, VGA, Boot Device LED)  – Q-Slot  – Q-DIMM Gamer’s Guardian  – SafeSlot  – DIGI+ VRM  – DRAM Overcurrent Protection  – ESD Guards on LAN, Audio, KBMS and USB3.0/2.0 ports  – Highly Durable Components  – Stainless Steel Back I/O ASUS Exclusive Features  – AURA Lighting Control  – 3D Printing Friendly design  – AI Suite 3   – AI Charger Back panel I/O ports 1 x HDMI 1 x DisplayPort 2 x USB 3.1 ports ( 1 x Type-C [black] and 1 x Type-A [red] ) 6 x USB 3.0 ports [blue] 2 x USB 2.0 ports [black] 1 x Anti-surge LAN (RJ45) port 1 x Optical S/PDIF out 5 x audio jacks Internal I/O connectors 1 x USB 3.1 front panel connector 2 x USB 3.0 headers support additional 4 USB 3.0 ports 1 x USB 2.0 header supports additional 2 USB 2.0 ports 8 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors 1 x M.2 Socket 3 for M Key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support 1 x 4-Pin CPU fan connector 1 x 4-Pin CPU_OPT fan connector 1 x 4-Pin AIO_PUMP connector 1 x 4-Pin W_PUMP+ connector 3 x 4-Pin Chassis fan connectors 1 x Thermal sensor connector 2 x RGB headers 1 x 24-pin EATX power connector 1 x 8-pin EATX 12V power connector 1 x System panel connector 1 x Front panel audio connector (AAFP) 1 x Clear CMOS jumper (2-pin) Accessory User guide Support DVD I/O Shield 1 x SLIâ„¢ HB Bridge(2-way-M) 4 x SATA 6Gb/s Cables 1 x M.2 Screw Package 1 x 3D Printing Mount 1 x RGB LED extension cable 1 x 10-in-1 ROG cable label 1 x ROG Strix sticker 1 x cable tie package BIOS 128 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS, PnP, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 3.0, ACPI 6.1, Multi-language BIOS,
ASUS EZ Flash 3, CrashFree BIOS 3, F11 EZ Tuning Wizard, F6 Qfan Control, F3 My Favorites, Last Modified log,
F12 PrintScreen and ASUS DRAM SPD (Serial Presence Detect) memory information Manageability WfM 2.0, WOL by PME, PXE Support DVD contents  Drivers   ASUS Utilities   Anti-virus software  Operating System Support Windows^® 10 64-bit Form Factor ATX Form Factor 12 inch x 9.6 inch (30.5cm x 24.4cm)